On the night of Thursday, the 19th, the Kashmiris had lined with lamps both sides of the Bihat. It is an ancient custom that every year on this day everyone, whether rich or poor, whoever has a house on the bank of the river, should light lamps as on the S͟hab-i-barāt. I asked the brahmans the reason of this, and they said that on this day the fountain-head of the Jhelam was disclosed, and the custom had come down from old days that on this date must take place the feast of Veth tarwāh.[111] Veth means the Jhelam, and they call thirteen tarwāh; as this day is the 13th of S͟hawwāl, they light lamps. In this way they call it the Veth tarwāh. Undoubtedly the lamp-lighting was good. I sate in a boat and went round to see it. On this day the feast of my solar weighing took place, and according to the usual custom, I weighed myself against gold and other things, which I distributed among deserving people. The 51st year of the age of this suppliant at the throne of Allah came to an end; the 52nd year lit up the face of expectation. It is hoped that the period of my life will be spent in pleasing God. The entertainment of Thursday, the 26th, was held in the lodging of Āṣaf K. (Nūr-Jahān’s brother), and that pillar of the Sultanate fulfilled the duties of homage, and of offerings, and thereby acquired eternal bliss.

On 1 S͟hahrīwar (about 11 August) ducks (murg͟hābī) appeared on the Wular lake, and on the 24th of that month they appeared on the Dal lake. The following is the list of birds which are not met with in Kashmir:

List.

1.Crane[112] (kulang).16.Goose (qāz).
2.Sāras (grus Antigone).17.Konkla (kokilā, the black cuckoo?).
3.Peacock.18.Partridge (durrāj).
4.Bustard (jarz or charz).19.Shāvak (starling).
5.Stork (laglag).20.Nol-i-surk͟h (redbeak, [parrot]?).
6.Bustard (tug͟hdarī).21.Mūsīcha (wood-pigeon?).
7.Bustard (tug͟hdāg͟h).22.Hariyal (green pigeon?).
8.Karwānak (kind of crane?).23.Dhīng (adjutant).
9.Zard-tilak (golden oriole?).24.Koyal (Eudynamys Orientalis).
10.Nuqra-pāy (silver-foot).25.S͟hakar-k͟hwāra (sugar-eater, [parrot]?).
11.ʿAzam-pāy.26.Mahokhā (cuculus castaneus?).
12.Boza laglag (royal curlew).27.Mahirlāt (?).
13.Pelican (hawāsil).28.Dhanes͟h (hornbill).
14.Makisa (Ardea indica?).29.Gulchaṛī (quail?).
15.Bag͟hlā (paddy-bird).30. Ṭaṭīrī, which the Turks call (blank in MSS.) and I have named bad-āwāz, “evil-voiced.” (It is perhaps the sandpiper.)

As the Persian names of some of these are not known, or rather, these birds don’t exist in Persia (Wilāyat), I have written the Hindi names.[113] The names of the carnivorous and herbivorous animals that are not in Kashmir are as follows: The tiger, the panther (yūz), the rhinoceros,[114] the wild buffalo, the black antelope, the gazelle, the kotāh pācha (hog-deer), the nīl-gāw, the wild ass, the hare, the lynx, the wild cat, the mūshak-i-karbalāʾī (?),[115] the porpoise, and the porcupine.

On this day peaches came from Kabul by runners. The largest of these weighed 26 tolas,[116] or 65 mis̤qāls. As long as their season lasted, such a number came that I gave them to most of the Amirs, and to the private servants fed from the royal table.

On Friday,[117] the 27th, I went out to see Vīrnāg,[118] the source of the Bihat. Going up the river 5 koss in a boat, I alighted at the village of Pāmpūr.

On this day unpleasant news came from Kis͟htwār. The details of this are that when Dilāwar K. conquered it and returned to Court, he left Naṣru-llah ʿArab, with some of the mansabdars to guard it. Naṣru-llah made two mistakes. One was that he treated the Zamindars and the people of the place harshly, and did not observe a conciliatory demeanour towards them. The second was that the forces sent as auxiliaries to him, in expectation of increase of mansab, asked him for leave to go to Court and transact their affairs. He yielded to their representations,[119] and gave them leave one after the other. When only a small force was left with him, the Zamindars, whose hearts had been wounded by him, and were on the look out for a disturbance, found their opportunity and made an attack from all quarters. Having burnt the bridge by which the army had crossed, and by which assistance could come, they lighted the fire of disturbance and sedition. Naṣru-llah shut himself up, and for two or three days defended himself with the greatest difficulty (literally, with a thousand life-extractions). As he had no provisions, and they had closed the road, he determined to accept martyrdom, and manfully, with some of those who were with him, performed the dues of bravery and valour until most of his men were killed, and some became captives in the hands of destiny.

When this news reached my ear, I appointed Jalāl, s. Dilāwar K., on whose forehead the traces of bravery and ambition were manifest, and who had done good service in the conquest of Kis͟htwār, with the mansab of 1,000 personal and 600 horse, giving him the attendants of his father who were enrolled among the servants of the Court, and an army of the soldiers of Kashmir, with many of the Zamindars and men on foot with muskets, to assist him in overcoming that mob, doomed to a vile end. An order was also given that Rāja Sangrām, the Zamindar of Jammu, with his own men, should come in by the hill-road from Jammu. It is hoped that the rebels will quickly obtain the recompense for their deeds.

On Saturday, the 28th, I marched 4½ koss. Passing one koss beyond Kākāpūr, I came to the bank of the river. The bang[120] (bhang) of Kākāpūr is well-known. It grows wild on the bank of the river in quantities. On Sunday, the 29th, I halted at the village of Panj Brāra.[121] This village[122] has been bestowed on my fortunate son S͟hāh Parwīz. His Vakils had prepared a small building and a little garden overlooking the river. In the neighbourhood of Panj Brāra there is a meadow (julga)[123] exceedingly clean and pleasant, with seven lofty plane-trees in the middle of it, and a stream of the river flowing round it. The Kashmiris call it Sathā Bhūlī(?)[124] It is one of the great resorts of Kashmir.